AG Challenger Promises to Focus on 'People's Priorities' In Town Hall Tour Kickoff
by Lewis Thune
LINCOLN — Democrat Attorney General hopeful Jocelyn Brasher held her first town hall of the 2026 general election cycle in the Lincoln Firefighters Reception Hall Monday evening. Brasher engaged with a small audience for just under an hour, highlighting her record and criticizing Attorney General Mike Hilgers’ performance in office. She began the night by contrasting her record and platform with Hilgers’ tenure, with two critical issues in mind: consumer protection and integrity.
“For the past three and a half years, I have watched Mike Hilgers take this office in the wrong direction,” she said. “We need an attorney general who will focus on the people’s priorities.”
Her first point of difference came on consumer protection. A former attorney in the office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Bureau, she voiced her disapproval of Hilgers’ choice to settle with Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster in a lawsuit over monopolistic practices in ticketed events, like concerts and sports.
“There was a lawsuit that was led primarily by the United States Department of Justice, a number of US attorneys general joined that lawsuit. The US DOJ backs out, and our Attorney General decides to pull out and settle right after trial had started,” she said. “He gave Live Nation and Ticketmaster a sweetheart deal.”
In April, Live Nation/Ticketmaster was found liable on numerous antitrust claims. Brasher also faulted Hilgers for silence on the decision to settle.
“If you’re wondering, hey, why didn’t I hear about this? Why didn’t I hear about this settlement? It is because our Attorney General did not put out a press release on the settlement,” she said.
She also pointed to Hilgers’ decision to head a 15-state amicus brief opposing California’s ability to impose enhanced labeling on glyphosate products, calling it an instance of the Nebraska AG “siding with a big corporation, Bayer-Monstanto.” She further lauded a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against John Deere which alleges a monopoly on repair services, and questioned why Hilgers did not join it.
“I am prepared to lead on day one and make the Attorney General’s office Nebraska’s independent watchdog for consumers to fight antitrust violations, illegal price gouging, and monopolistic practices” she said.
Brasher briefly plugged her plans to create a task force for children’s online safety, but quickly moved to draw contrast between herself and Hilgers on issues of the Attorney General office’s integrity. She accused Hilgers both of using the office to exert improper pressure elsewhere in Nebraska politics.
“He has made this office far too partisan, far too political” she said, “He is legislating from the AG’s office.”
Chief among these criticisms was Hilgers’ decision to sue the Trump Administration for reclassifying marijuana.
“There are probably a lot of people who don’t know, because he does not want people to know that he broke with his own party over this issue, and sued the Trump Administration” she said.
She also blamed Hilgers for the lack of guidance on medical marijuana, which was legalized in Nebraska via referendum in 2024, but has yet to become widely available in the state.
“Our providers will not prescribe it [medical marijuana] because they are so afraid, because of the delays caused by Mike Hilgers,” she said. “Hilgers is using his power and his office to overturn an election result that he does not agree with. That is as simply as I can possibly put it.”
When asked for a distinctly politicized suit, she hesitated and briefly paused.
“I probably could come up with a number, and could probably spend a lot of time here discussing those partisan lawsuits with you,” she eventually said. “But the issue is that he’s getting us involved in whether it’s an actual final lawsuit or joining the legal action with an amicus brief.”
Nonetheless, she did charge that he was beholden to large donors, reiterating her campaign’s unwillingness to accept donations from corporate political action committees. She also criticized and questioned his outsourcing of certain litigation.
“We have assistant attorneys general that is their job to file those lawsuits. I know, because I worked there, that was my job. I know that those attorneys are qualified and capable of getting that job done, but he is sending those lawsuits out to be filed to out of state big city law firms,” she said. “Is he sending those lawsuits to his own firm? Is he sending those lawsuits to his friends? We don’t know.”
She concluded her integrity questions with reference to two other embattled incumbents in Nebraska: “Hilgers is in the pocket Pillen and Ricketts, his billionaire friends.”
Brasher was certain to refocus on her own race during subsequent questions about the governor and Senator Ricketts. She underscored the importance of the attorney general’s office toward accomplishing her party’s goals statewide.
“Governors come and go, Senators come and go. Even if we get rid of the governor, even if we get rid of Ricketts, but we keep Hilgers, we will not get the change we need here in Nebraska,” she said. “I cannot stress this enough, even if we get beat and I’m in there, we will have change for Nebraska.”
Even as she closed by stressing her commitments to openness, honesty, and transparency, her enduring message to the small crowd in Lincoln was one of urgency for this singular race.
“Mike Hilgers is the one calling the shots. He is the one making the decisions. He is the one filing the lawsuits,” she said. “To get real change in Nebraska, we have to get rid of this AG. It’s just that simple.”
— Lewis Thune is a writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.